Some have suggested that the amendment could, in effect, allow for the unlicensed open carry of handguns. That’s because someone open carrying without a license – illegally – wouldn’t need to fear police questioning if they were otherwise doing no wrong.

Lawmakers on different sides of the open carry debate on Tuesday downplayed that scenario, emphasizing that the bill’s license rules are clear. Though they disagreed on the amendment’s impact, they stressed their expectation that people will follow the law.

And Dutton said on Tuesday that his intent had nothing to do with unlicensed open carry – but instead with safeguarding against racial profiling.

“If you see black guys with open carry, I didn’t want them stopped because they happened to be black guys exercising their right to open carry,” said Dutton, who voted against the overall open carry bill. “That was my concern.”

The amendment passed with ease on Monday as the final tweak to the House's open carry bill, which now must be reconciled with the Senate version. There was no debate on the item, and only 10 Democrats voted against the proposal.

Even if the tweak doesn’t actually pave the way for “constitutional carry,” Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, nonetheless called it “tremendously problematic.”

“My concern is that if someone is openly carrying and they are not in the act of committing a crime, a law enforcement official has no ability to verify that they are carrying the appropriate license,” he said.

But the bill’s author, Rep. Larry Phillips, R-Sherman, dismissed any concerns about a loophole. He said the amendment just provided “clarity” to police officials that if “people are being law-abiding citizens, there’s no need to interfere with their daily activity.”

Predicting that a small number of Texans would actually open carry, he said didn’t think it would be an issue.

“It’s real easy to think about all these different circumstances that could cause alarm,” he said, reiterating that the bill makes clear the need for a license. “But at the end of the day, you are going to see very little open carry.”

Even Rep. Jonathan Stickland – the House’s most vocal proponent of “constitutional carry” – said he didn’t think the Dutton amendment was a backdoor entrance to unlicensed open carry.

“It doesn’t get me where I want to be,” the Bedford Republican said.

Stickland said he supported the proposal as a “step in the right direction.” He did concede that some people would still probably open carry without a license – which he cited as further reason to allow unlicensed open carry for responsible gun owners.